Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Crackpot Economists Don't Know How to End the Fed / Politics / Central Banks
By: Gary_North
It would be very easy to end the Federal Reserve System. Congress would write the following bill. The President would sign it.
- The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 and all subsequent amendments to that Act are hereby revoked.
- The gold that belongs to the United States government, and which is kept on deposit with the Federal Reserve System, is hereby transferred to account of the United States Treasury.
Friday, August 10, 2012
President Obama in January 2009 and Now / Politics / US Politics
By: Ian_R_Campbell
Why Read: To test the contemporaneous views I expressed four years ago, to observe similarities and differences then and now, and to determine if you agree with my current views.
Friday, August 10, 2012
The Decline of Empire: 'Why America Failed' / Politics / US Politics
By: Jesse
To say that Morris Berman has a 'dark vision' to share is an understatement.
I think his view is legitimate, but only if you look at one somewhat narrow aspect of the American character, and ignore all the rest. It seems to be singularly focused to the point of distortion by a depressive fatalism.
Friday, August 10, 2012
Eurodystopia: A Future Divided / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Raul_I_Meijer
Just about everyone will recognize the family name. Fewer will be familiar with the man behind it. But Alfred (Freddy) Heineken was an interesting man regardless. Starting in 1941, he took over the family firm founded by his grandfather, bought back shares and never looked back. Freddy built the Heineken brand into one of the best marketed ones in the world for any product, and today, 10 years after his death, it is still in the very top of world breweries.
Friday, August 10, 2012
Reality Check - U.S. Supporting Al-Qaeda in Syria, Did the CIA Create Al-Qaeda? / Politics / Al-Qeeda
By: Videos
Ben Swann of Cincinnati's local Fox station goes where the MSM would neither dare nor understand. In this 'Reality Check' segment he takes a look at how the US government created Al Qaeda. Indeed, in today's Middle East turmoil it's fighting Al Qaeda in some countries while supporting them in others. Take note of Hillary's confirmation and explanation of how that all started.
Thursday, August 09, 2012
The Dispossessed Majority / Politics / Social Issues
By: Paul_Craig_Roberts
The bumper sticker on the beat-up pickup truck read: “Friends don’t let friends vote Democrat.”
The driver was obviously not affluent. Yet, despite all the news about mega-trillion dollar bankster bailouts, mega-million dollar bonuses for financial crooks, and unimaginable compensation packages for corporate CEOs who have moved middle class jobs out of America, something made the down-and-out pickup truck driver associate with the political party of the super-rich.
Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, August 08, 2012
Lawyers and Banks Offer Full Range of Criminal Services to the Elite / Politics / Banksters
By: Jesse
There is a two-tiered system of rules, with Liberty and Justice for some.
If you knew how routinely it is marketed, and understood the full extent of it, you would be surprised and angry at the cynical injustice of those who consider that only the 'little people' should bear the burdens for their country and the consequences of their actions.
Tuesday, August 07, 2012
Central Bankers, The Not So Super Hero's / Politics / Central Banks
By: Peter_Schiff
The past week provided clear lessons not just in how central bankers have a limited ability to positively influence the economy but also how they are limited in their capacity to deliver the shortsighted policy actions that investors currently crave. The developments should provide new reasons for investors and economy watchers to abandon their faith in central bankers as super heroes capable of saving the economy.
Tuesday, August 07, 2012
Bernanke’s Pursuit of Happiness / Politics / Central Banks
By: Jan_Skoyles
Yesterday Bernanke, in a pre-recorded speech to a conference in Cambridge, MA, extolled the virtues of happiness economics.
Let’s be honest, there was little point in him singing the praises of his own area of economics, that’s fallen flat on its face.
Across the developed world the damages from the fiat money system become greater every day. Governments and central bankers are the ones to thanks for widening levels of poverty and inequality. The majority of our daily lives are affected by decisions made from us drawn from economic studies and statistics. But now the most sacred thing to all of us – our happiness – is something the most powerful government on earth would like to get their hands on.
Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, August 07, 2012
Euro to Beat U.S. Dollar? Draghi’s Genius / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Axel_Merk
Investors have not woken up to it, but last week may have been a game changer. European Central Bank (ECB) President Draghi took tail risks out of the Eurozone, while at the same time forcing closer fiscal integration. He did it all while keeping the ECB out of some political minefields. It's pure genius. The initial market reaction suggested he might have lost a battle, not realizing that he is winning the war.
Tuesday, August 07, 2012
Ron Paul - U.S. Moving Towards War in Syria / Politics / US Politics
By: Dr_Ron_Paul
Last week the House passed yet another bill placing sanctions on Iran and Syria, bringing us closer to another war in the Middle East. We are told that ever harsher sanctions finally will force the targeted nations to bend to our will. Yet the ineffectiveness of previous sanctions teaches us nothing; in truth sanctions lead to war more than they prevent war.
Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, August 06, 2012
Mario Draghi Distracts Investors With Just Promises To Save the Euro / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: John_Browne
In the last week of July, ECB President Mario Draghi attracted investor interest worldwide by saying that he would do "whatever it takes" to solve the Eurozone crisis and, in the process, save the euro. Markets rallied as investors concluded that Mr. Draghi could only be referring to the financial heroine of quantitative easing (QE) and the transfer of toxic Eurozone sovereign debt assets from troubled private banks to EU taxpayers. This mini rally built on momentum that had previously been fueled by belief that Fed Chairman Bernanke would imminently announce a further round of QE in the United States.Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, August 06, 2012
Obamacare Hidden Taxes Will Cost You More Than You Think / Politics / US Politics
By: Money_Morning
David Zeiler writes:
The bill for Obamacare is on its way, and guess what? It's addressed to you.
You see, all those great benefits included in the Affordable Care Act don't come cheap, which is why the new healthcare law includes a barrage of new "Obamacare taxes."
Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, August 06, 2012
U.S. China Conflict, We're Not Saber Rattling, We're Simply Connecting the Dots / Politics / New Cold War
By: Money_Morning
William Patalon III writes:
I love it when our readers take the time to drop us a note. It's tells me they're not only reading but actually care enough to be engaged.
A Money Morning subscriber named Peter M. is one of those folks.
Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, August 06, 2012
U.S. Says Iran Violates International Obligations, What Are International Obligations? / Politics / US Politics
By: Danny_Schechter
What are “international obligations? Does the United States have to uphold them along with other counties? Does Washington even know they are defined as “obligations owed by states to the international community as a whole, intended to protect and promote the basic values and common interests of all.” By this very definition, no one state can decide what’s best for all.
When the United States stepped up its sanctions on Iran last past week, it cited Iran’s failure to adhere to its “international obligations.” There was, of course, no reference to domestic politics where President Obama, under attack from adversary Mitt Romney, criticized his failure to stop Iran’s nuclear program.
Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, August 06, 2012
The Political Significance of Gore Vidal / Politics / US Politics
By: BATR
The Gore Vidal legacy encompasses his numerous novels, literary writings, plays and essays. Few 20th century authors can match the volume of his compositions and consistency in the quality of his thoughts. If one can ignore his anti-religious beliefs and get past his complex sexuality, one can justly focus on the significance within his political viewpoints. Not since Oscar Wilde, has there been a man of letter with comparable wit and ridicule, that capsulated the age of his lifetime. Based upon a keen command of history and a flare for original insights, Vidal was the master political polemicist.
Monday, August 06, 2012
Fallacies of Pearlstein's WaPo op-ed on Glass-Steagall / Politics / Credit Crisis 2012
By: ECB_Watch
While not an expert on banking legislation, I've come across sufficiently visible fallacies in rejecting the notion that the repeal of Glass-Steagall was a factor of crisis, I felt confident enough to write a post describing them (jump to 'Also see'). The Washington Post now publishes an article by Steven Pearlstein repeating the same fallacies: 'Let's shatter the myth on Glass Steagall' (WP). Both Sorkin and Pearlstein are recipient of prestigious awards (Gerald Loeb and Pulitzer).
Monday, August 06, 2012
GDP Growth Statistical Nonsense, The Unseen Hand / Politics / Economic Statistics
By: Alasdair_Macleod
The assessment of economic growth based on Gross Domestic Product is a fallacy, because GDP is merely a measure of the amount of money in an economy. The one thing it does not measure, which is central to economic progress (note progress, not growth), is the level of entrepreneurial activity. This has important implications for the efficacy of government interventions and solutions to the current economic crisis.
Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, August 06, 2012
Firearms A Virus in the Lifeblood of America / Politics / US Politics
By: Michael_T_Bucci
Several weeks ago on a Friday, Americans were shocked awake by a mass massacre in Aurora, Colorado. Two weeks after, on a Sunday, Americans awoke to a sequel played-out at a Sikh Temple in Wisconsin. These are dubbed "mass murders" by law enforcement, the politicians and media. The Sikh massacre on the fifth of August was quickly labeled of a "domestic terrorism-type", with no supporting evidence given by the FBI. One comment left by a poster at Reuters pointed out that while this rampage occurred and received media-wide coverage, five murders were committed in Chicago that very morning and received little media coverage. Anyone who lives in or near an urban center in America knows the truth about underreported murders.
Monday, August 06, 2012
Who do You Trust? President? Congress? Treasury Secretary? Federal Reserve? / Politics / US Politics
By: James_Quinn
“All the world is made of faith, and trust, and pixie dust.” ― J.M. Barrie – Peter Pan
"The issue which has swept down the centuries and which will have to be fought sooner or later is the people versus the banks." – Lord Acton
Who do you trust? Do you trust the President? Do you trust Congress? Do you trust the Treasury Secretary? Do you trust the Federal Reserve? Do you trust the Supreme Court? Do you trust the Military Industrial Complex? Do you trust Wall Street bankers? Do you trust the SEC? Do you trust any government agency or regulator? Do you trust the corporate mainstream media? Do you trust Washington think tanks? Do you trust Madison Avenue PR maggots? Do you trust PACs? Do you trust lobbyists?
Read full article... Read full article...